After hours of scrolling through TikTok I stumbled upon a video review of a Jazz album that challenged all known rules of western composition, titled “Well, I Should Have*” subtitled “*Learned to Play Piano.”
It caught my attention because it was put together by voice actor and comedian H. Jon Benjamin who is the voice of Archer from “Archer” and Bob from “Bob’s Burgers”
For this album, released on Nov. 27, 2015, Benjamin recruited many professional jazz musicians, with big names like Scott Kreitzer on saxophone, David Finck on bass and Jonathan Peretz on drums. The album is seven years old now, but has recently made its way around TikTok, renewing interest in it.
To round out that list, Benjamin could have scouted a high-profile, high-talent jazz pianist.
He did not. Benjamin chose…himself.
“I don’t play piano at all, and I’m not a huge fan of jazz I never was. And that’s why I thought it would be funny to make a jazz album,” said Benjamin in a video released by SubPop records.
He also did not inform his fellow band members.
The first track on the album titled “I Can’t Play Piano, Pt.1” makes it very clear that he indeed has no idea how to play the piano, and this difference in skill between H. Jon Benjamin and the rest of the band creates a comedic effect.
What’s the most interesting about this album however is the fact that he can’t play the piano is sometimes masked by other aspects.
One example of this is how the other band members are extremely talented, which sometimes takes the spotlight off his horrendous playing. On top of that Benjamin actually has good rhythm and also knows when he’s supposed to be playing and when he should let the others solo.
“I Can’t Play Piano, Pt. 3” highlights both how comically terrible Benjamin is in comparison to the rest of the band with them going back and forth playing solos. This is accompanied by Benjamin egging them all on by shouting things like “Come on man!” and “You can do better!” throughout the song as he himself is playing terribly.